Carver High baseball made the playoffs for first time in 17 years

Wednesday

It was a bit of a roller-coaster at times, but in the end the Carver baseball team did something the program hasn’t managed in nearly two decades, which was to reach the state tournament.

CARVER – It was a bit of a roller-coaster at times, but in the end the Carver baseball team did something the program hasn’t managed in nearly two decades, which was to reach the state tournament.

It certainly wasn’t easy. The Crusaders needed two wins in their final three games to qualify. After beating Wareham on Luke Halunen’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh inning, they officially qualified in much less dramatic fashion with a forfeit win over Randolph in the season finale.

"The kids were able to do something we haven’t done in 17 years, and then we won a tournament game, so it was a really fulfilling season despite some struggles," head coach Skip McCarty said. "We had some midseason issues, but we recovered, and their willingness to fight to the end was a big part of that."

Unfortunately, the Crusaders graduate most of their starting lineup, including South Shore League All-Stars Andrew Bumpus and Tyler Halunen. "That group [of seniors] went from 2-7 in one-run games in their sophomore year to 9-10 [overall record] last year to 10-10 this year," McCarty said. "They definitely showed a progress that this next group is very capable of duplicating."

Bumpus led the Crusaders in hitting with a .464 average, knocked in 12 runs and was also 2-3 on the mound. Halunen hit .426 with a team-high 14 RBIs and was the team’s best pitcher, going 4-3 with a 3.18 ERA.

The Crusaders will also graduate catcher Cullen Reagan, first baseman Jake Rennie, left-fielder Trevor Dickson, who had 11 RBIs as well as outfielders Kye Barrett and Casey Fernandez.

Although the Crusaders could be in rebuilding mode next season with so many graduation losses, McCarty believes the program has made huge strides by finally returning to the tournament this spring.

"It shows that in a town like Carver we can be successful in baseball and be a program that can get into the tournament," he said. "I hope that the interest in baseball continues to rise in town based on this, and while next year could be a potential rebuild, I feel we have some kids who were on junior varsity this year who will be able to contribute."